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He has his work cut out; make himself and the Conservatives more interestingRahman Mohamed

In 2011 Michael Ignatieff stepped down as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. After defeat in the 2015 General Election former Prime Minister Stephen Harper stepped as leader and later away from politics. Bob Rae took Ignatieff’s place as interim leader for the Liberal Party. Similar to Rona Ambrose who took Harper’s place, Bob Rae did not run for the position of leader for the Liberal Party despite encouragement. Bob Rae put a brake on politics after the race; Rona Ambrose plans to do the same. The Liberal Leadership Race started with 9 candidates; it ended with 6 candidates on the ballot. The Conservative Leadership Race started with 17 candidates. Although it ended with 14 candidates on the ballot, surprising Canadians who perceived Kevin O’Leary as the next leader, he dropped out of the race. His name was on the ballot but he withdraw from the race; at the time it was too late to take his name of the ballot. 13 finalists were on the list

On the 1st ballot presumed leader Maxime Bernier was first. Bernier secured 28.9% of points. On the 3rd ballot O’Leary was knocked off. After the 7th ballot, Bernier stayed at number one rising to 30.51%; 6 candidates had been knocked off of the list. The Conservative Leadership race went right down to the wire. On the 13th/last ballot Andrew Scheer secured 51% of the vote becoming the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada; Maxime Bernier was ahead until the last ballot.

As expected Justin Trudeau clinched the leadership on the first ballot with 80.9% of the points. On the other hand the Conservative Race came to nail biting end.

There was more excitement for the Liberal Leadership race than the Conservative Leadership race. Both had many candidates, drop outs, and votes from across Canada. The two make up the original parties from Confederation – John A. MacDonald’s Progressive Conservatives and Wilfrid Laurier’s Liberals.

So why was there more attention for the Liberal race than the Conservative?

Once upon a time Syria was a country that was barely known. Only its neighbours would know it existed and its condition. Today it’s a household name. In Canada it’s not just known; it’s debated. After winning the 2015 Federal Election, the Liberal government is facing its first international challenges: the environment and climate change conference in France and its position on Syria.